How do you find BEST classical recordings???

Being a classical music "nut" myself, I dare say Pls1's post is a reference. I second his comments on the Penguin, Gramophone & Fanfare guides on all points & one more: esp. on Penguin, I find inconsistencies in the recommendations. OTOH, older Gramophones' notes are a reference.
Again, www.classicaldigest.com is a good source.
I can add:
The Diapason guide (in French) was very good, and more consistent, and it also mentioned vinyl -- but the last issues, late '80s, are dated and difficult to find.

Another resource to check out is Andante.com. The have a huge reference base of info about classical music including program notes for most standard pieces, a comprehensive timeline, composer profiles, the short Grove Dictionary of music and much more. Andante also is the source on the web for Concertgebouw, Philadelphia, London Symphony and Vienna Phil concerts on demand. They also have a streaming audio channel that has the widest range of classical music (medieval to contemporary and 1920’s to newly released recordings) in excellent interpretations. They cost about $10 per month and you will need a high speed Internet connection to listen to the music. Listening to the Andante web channel for a few weeks will give you a good idea about what you like or dislike. They are in negotiations for a major collection of reviews but that will take some time.

The allmusic.com guides are excellent quick references to works and performers but they won’t help too much in deciding which performance to buy. Classical.net is another resource but their recommendations place heavy emphasis on availability of the CDs. They often do not recommend any of what I would consider the “Top 5” performances, but all their recommendations are decent.

BTW Peter what are your current favorite performers, composers?

Also, check out ClassicsToday.com

Pls1 - I need to compile the pieces and composers that I will be asking for advice on. But most currently, I've decided that I really like Vaughan Williams. I would love some advice about how to get into some of his best work and associated best performances. I have the Sony Essential Classics CD (SBK 62645, Philadelphia Orchestra) that has three short works, including Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. The recording has lots of weird sonic effects (I assume due to the transfer to digital), but the miking is great and there is a multitextured sound. I remember hearing the Hiawatha piece on the radio and liking that. I don't like things too shmaltzy. Any suggestions?

I also love Bruch's Scottish Fantasy. Any suggestions on that? I recently heard a young Chinese violinist performing it on the radio. It was absolutely fantastic. I forget his name, but it was a rather short name that could be pronounced akin to an English name (i.e. it was very close).

Thanks Pls1!!!

peter, you asked about AMG on line - i've never looked at it on line but i buy it regularily. It is best used for gaining a concensus of performances on recent releases and, i think best of all, it has composer reviews wherein all of the composers most popular works are discussed and "ranked". But be careful, sonic quality is not really important to these guys. (i also subscribe to all of the recommended journals and highly recommend this as a primary source of information, just be wary - Pls1 has described them very accurately.

you mentioned Bruch's Scottish Fantasia - You may well have heard Cho-Liang Lin on Sony/CBS. It also includes Bruch's Violin Concerto. This is an excellent choice, however my personal preference is the same program by Kyung-Wha Chung on a Decca Legends CD. But either will serve you well.

On Vaughn Williams, since you have some of his short works, you might try Neville Marriner's CD (if still in print) on Argo, which includes the Fantasia On a theme by Thomas Tallis, the Fantasia on Greensleeves, The Lark Assending etc. However, i would recommend that you sample one of his symphonies, the 2d called the London Symphony. There are many good versions on budget labels, I like Previn in all of the symphonies on RCA. However my current interest is in the original version on Chandos by Hickox. Beware this is an audiophile disc in the best sense - but it will challenge the dynamics of your system. enjoy.